It’s an ongoing thing …

I’m a bit late with this post today as I had a busy weekend. I had some family over yesterday for lunch and I am happy to say that the pergola came in handy. It was a cooler day, but it was still nice to sit and enjoy the garden.

It was soccer day too, yesterday, as it was the final of the UEFA competition – Spain vs. England. I have soccer fans in the family, so the TV was on in the background. And then, it was the final of the Copa America: Argentina vs. Colombia. And it was a good one: it started about 1.5 hours late because they had issues with fans without tickets trying to storm the stadium, but in the end, the game started. Extra time … and 5 minutes before the end of the extra time and the possibility of going to penalties … Argentina scored! Happy people all around …

Aside from that, the work continues in the studio. Thursday was “dyeing” day and it was the turn of the wall and the window piece to be dyed. I tried something new-to-me: dyeing flat instead of in a vat or bucket. The piece is large and I was nervous about the amount of agitating I would have to do to evenly dye it. Also, dyeing in a bucket does not allow for mixing colours and placing them where you want them.

I really liked the process, and I can see more in my future.

Tomorrow, I will trim and face the wall and window piece. I call it “Somewhere in the world, there is a wall”. The label and the sleeve will be the last to go on.

Today, while babysitting my grandson, I was looking at one of my “idea” books and came across a piece that inspired me. I jumped up from the couch right then and there and went down to my studio to look for a piece of drop cloth fabric I had left on a chair. I always have soda ash at the ready, so I grabbed a container and placed the piece of fabric and soaked it in soda ash – with the help of a small person who had a lot of fun with too-large-for-him gloves. Safety first …

And then, while he was napping, I went downstairs and placed the fabric on the print table, and used the last of the two red dyes I had left over from Thursday. And then … it needed something, Ideas, ideas? I found an old deconstructed screen from a few years back with some still-yummy stuff on it, and I used a bit here and there. We’ll see what remains when it’s washed. It’s covered in plastic and “cooking” now. I have to be patient. I’ll wash it tomorrow late afternoon – in that way, the dye stays for at least 24 hours on the fabric.

One more piece finished and bound. Yes, I did sew a binding on this one. 1/4″, very narrow so it’s “barely there”. It was hand-stitched to the back. And if you are wondering, I cut my binding fabric at 1.5″ and sew it with 1/4″ seam. and then have enough to turn round and fold under to the edge of the quilt before turning under once again and hand-stitching it to the back. And yes, it is uneven on purpose. Straight edge at the top. Quilted by Chris at Country C.A.T. Quilting.

Still at least one more piece to stitch – tomorrow hopefully that will get done. And the piece downstairs … I have different plans for it, so it will need to be tightly stitched first. We’ll see … The power of inspiration.

As you see, stuff keeps happening. One more week to go before it all goes in a suitcase :) I can’t wait to see it all go together.

Until I write again, stay cool and keep enjoying the wonderful weather.

Ana